Sometimes I like to treat Todd to a pub fare meal on a weeknight. Pubs here in the UK are somewhat similar to Diners in North America, in that they usually serve nice comfy meals, home style. They also serve alcohol. Some do the meal thing really well and others not so well. It is hit and miss really. Some just re-heat frozen food.
They offer a variety of things on the menu, but most will offer meat pies and chips, roast dinners, fish and chips, curries, etc. and most will also have Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips. You will normally be asked if you want a ring of pineapple with it or peas.
A gammon steak is like a thick slice of uncooked ham or green ham. It can be smoked or unsmoked, and, unlike ham you MUST cook it before you eat it, like bacon in a way, but quite different in flavor and consistency. It comes from the leg of a pig whereas bacon comes from the belly.
Todd will sometimes order the Gammon, Egg & Chips, but I have always found it quite disappointing myself. Hardly worth the money paid.
Today I decided to make him a Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips dinner from scratch, here at home that he could really enjoy.
I did use oven chips, but I used really good ones, thick steak cut, gastro style chips . . . you could of course fry them from scratch if you wanted to but these are actually quite good and in all truth that's all you get in most pubs anyways, deep fried frozen chips.
When we are eating eggs like this, I always like to use the freshest free range eggs that I can get. With brilliant yellow yolks, they taste so good when simply fried in butter.
I like to get the butter foaming and crack in the eggs, and then I cook them slowly, basting them with the fat in the pan until the edges are crisp and golden, but the yolks still a bit wobbly . . .
The gammon is also fried. I rub it with some dry mustard powder first for a bit of spice. I fry it in a bit of olive oil until crisp and caramelised on the edges and cooked through.
I added oven roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine that I cooked at the same time as the chips. Perfect!
I drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and scattered them with some sea salt and cracked black pepper before roasting. So tasty!
We had frozen petite pois with ours. Simply cooked in the microwave. 2 minutes on high, in a small covered container does the trick. I never add any water.
All in all this was most delicious. Todd enjoyed his along with a slice of buttered bread on the side.
Yield: 2
Author: Marie Rayner
Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips
Pub Fare on a weeknight for a simple supper.ingredients:
- 1 thick sliced gammon steak, cut in half crosswise
- some olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 spring of cherry tomatoes on the vine
- 2 portions of frozen gourmet style oven chips
- knob of butter
- 2 large free range eggs
- 2 portions of frozen peas
instructions:
How to cook Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips
- Preheat the oven according to your package directions for the chips. Place them onto a baking sheet. Place the tomatoes on the same baking sheet, drizzling with some olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Cook according to the package directions.
- Clip the fatty edge of the gammon steak. Cut in half and rub it all over with the dry mustard powder and black pepper. Heat a bit of oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the gammon steak pieces and cook on the first side until golden brown and caramelised on the edges, flip over and do the same on the other sides. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.
- Wipe out the pan. Add the knob of butter and heat the pan until the butter begins to foam. Crack in the eggs. Cook basting them occasionally with some of the butter from the pan with a spoon, until your eggs are to your desired doneness. Remove and keep warm.
- Cook the peas in a container in the microwave for about 2 minutes until done.
- Divide the chips between two heated plates along with the tomatoes, place a half gammon steak on each plate and top with a fried egg. Add a portion of the peas to each and serve immediately.
A simple supper like this makes a really nice mid-week meal every now and then. Its easy to make and quite delicious. Todd was really pleased with it, and in truth so was I. I hope you will give it a go and picture yourself sitting back in the corner in a pub here in the UK, but a good one, one that serves tasty homemade from scratch food. Those are my favorite kinds!
